The Mafia
by NGHTHWK
Summary: Ukraine is in the mafia, but is that really what she wants?    Short story with Ukraine, Poland and Estonia. Mentions of Russia. Use of human names.


Katya slowly drank her coffee, taking her time in order to think of a few things that bugged her today. She was sitting at an empty café. It was early, and the silence was almost absolute. With a sigh she realized she had to leave this sanctuary soon and go to work. From experience, she'd learnt that things usually just went downhill from this point.

It was not that she didn't like her life, it was just that… she didn't like her life. Personality wise, Katya was a peaceful person. She was nice, caring and pleasant to be around. She was always struggling with an irrational need to help other people, and at one point of her life she had tried pursuing a career as a nurse, but that had blatantly failed.

She was still, six years later, not really sure what to make of the sudden twist her life had taken. She supposed she would grow used to this kind of life. Instead of becoming a nurse, she had joined the mafia. No matter what you think of that, you must admit that it was quite the change. If she hadn't been so bitter about it she might even have laughed at it.

It wasn't really her choice; she just got so involved in the mafia's business that she couldn't afford not to join. The mafia isn't exactly an organization you want to know classified information about, unless you're one of them. Her brother was, he was one of the higher ups, and thinking about it, it was all his fault.

But Katya had a policy of not thinking about the past and what could have been, so she finally got up, ready to face a new day. She hadn't taken more than a single step before she heard a gun go off not far from where she was standing. Gunfire wasn't new to her (she _was _in the mafia, after all), but instinctively she put her arm over her face to protect herself. The suddenness of the situation had startled her, but she took a deep breath to calm down and inspected the scene.

A man was dead. She had known him. He was the owner of the café, and they were friends. His name was Vladimir and now he was lying on the floor covered in his own blood. His murderer was calmly standing in the door, watching the scene with a slight smirk. This was also a man Katya was familiar with, in fact, they were colleagues. He was the mafia's executioner, only 19 years old but still famous for being the best assassin in town.

"Feliks Łukasiewicz" she gasped, looking at the handsome yet deadly man.

He gave her a glance, recognizing here and nodding.

"Yes, my dear Katya?"

"W-why did you kill him? He hadn't done anything wrong, had he?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"How should I know, I'm just doing my job", he answered with a laugh. "Boss tells me to kill, I kill. It's not in my profession to ask questions." He winked at her before leaving the café.

Katya tried to calm down. She was all alone now, since Vladimir was dead. She had liked him. He was kind and compassionate, a good soul in this rotten world. Certainly the opposite of the cruel Feliks, who had killed him without a second thought.

She felt the despair of losing a friend and the cruelness of the situation. The fact that Vladimir had been killed because a high and mighty mafia boss – perhaps even her own brother – felt like it, and the fact that no one was going to do anything about it. The mafia's wishes were the absolute law in the city. She hated it, and she hated how powerless she really was.

She couldn't stay in there any longer. The look of Vladimir's dead body made her want to vomit, and she rushed out. She didn't know where to go. She certainly couldn't go to work like this, and started running in the opposite direction. If she could, she would just leave this city and never return.

In her haste to escape she accidentally bumped into someone, and mumbled an apology through the tears.

"Katya?" a worried voice said and she looked up, weary. It was another mafia member, Eduard. She didn't exactly feel like meeting anyone from the mafia at that time, but Eduard thankfully weren't as horrible as the other. He was a hacker, and she found it hard to believe anyway that the man could ever hurt anyone, and she doubted he even knew how to fire a gun.

"Are you okay? What's wrong? Why are you not at work?" he asked, frowning. When she started breaking down, he hugged her tightly without asking anything more. She found that the scent of his cologne reminded her of Vladimir, and it upset her even more.

"I can't do this anymore, Eduard", she cried. "I thought I could, but I can't. I can't stand to watch people get hurt and killed. If I do nothing, it's as if I killed them myself. I'm sorry, I just… I have to quit."

Eduard watched her with horror. He thought he had managed to calm her down, but he didn't know this girl. It wasn't Katya, the girl he'd been secretly in love with for the last year. It was a scared child who had taken over the body, he found himself thinking. And talking about quitting the mafia? That's not something you could just do like that.

Before he could react, she turned around and ran away towards the office. He stared after her before coming to his senses and following her. Unfortunately he had always skipped P.E. in school, and being a hacker sometimes had its disadvantages, such as being in horrible shape. He cursed this under his breath as he tried to keep up with her, but before long she was out of sight.

Katya ran until she couldn't run anymore, and she stopped to rest. Suddenly realizing what she had to do, she picked up her cell phone. The number of her boss was on speed dial, and she pressed the button, waiting for him to pick up so she could deliver her message.

Next thing she knew, she was back at the café. No one appeared to have been there since she left. She felt a sudden coldness and sat down at one of the tables. She had left the mafia. She felt a sudden dizziness, like she was standing at the edge of a great ravine. Had she really? Wasn't the phone call, the conversation between her and her boss, something she just had made up?

She tried to regain her composure. She feared that she had just made a terrible mistake. She realized that as she met the eyes of the executor for the second time that day. He had a gun in his hand, and a look of utmost confidence. He smiled at her almost friendly.

"Now that was unexpected, my dear Katya. How could you be so foolish? You don't quit the mafia, you just don't. We all know the consequences."

"Does… does my brother know?" she uttered, her voice shaking.

"Why yes", Feliks said, not managing to hide the malice in his voice. "He was the one who sent me here."

Katya's heart felt like it was going to stop. This was the end. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Outside the window she saw Eduard running, trying to save her. He would never make it, she knew that. His terrified eyes were the last thing she ever saw.

"Katya-"

Because at that moment, Feliks pulled the trigger.


End file.
